The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1887-02-24
The Activity in Manganese
LPittsburg Amereoaa Aan4gae.sms,..T

i With the great increase in the production o.
steel OF all kinds has come an Increased de
lnand for manganese. Prior to Mushets use o
spiegeleisen in the manufacture of BesseInei
steel, the chief demand for manganese was fol
making bleaching POWDER and in crueiblestee
and glass manufacturing. The amount used il
the two industries was small, the Chief demand
being for. chemical works. The greatly increas-
! ed production, within the past few years, O
| bessemeF and open -hearth steel has created 8
large and sudden demand for this metal which
| the old mines were unable to supply. and which
has encouraged an active search for manganese
/ all over the world in localities where th2re was
a PROBABILITY ofhnding tn is mineral
At present the chief sources Of supply in thi
country are the celebrated CrimoIa mines in
! Virginia, which furnishes about so per cent OF
| all OF the manganese ores mined in The Uni ed
States in 1883; tue Batesyille district in Arkan-
sas, WnIcn has Tor some years supplied some
ore, and in which district recent DEVELOPMENTS
give promise OF supplies second only TO those
| OF Virginia, and the Cartersvilie district in
| georgia, winch furnished some l2 per cent of
the ores minedin 1855. In addition to these de-
posts recent explorations in Virginia have de-
Yeloped some beds of excellent Dro1nise-
Among these are the mines of the Old Dolntn-
ion Manganese Company adjoining the Crimo-
IA mines, which have recently been leased nv
the American Manganese Company-the les
sees OF the Grimora property: the devotion
ments of j, b. White & Co., OH the Kennedv
tract, Adjoining the Mount TORY Furnace prom
erty near Stuarts Draft station on the shenan-
doah Valley road, and the developments OF the
Virginia Manganese Mining Company in Au-
gusta county some seven miles south of
WayneSboro. There are also several other To-
mas Deen ana Is sun mined, as at Leet's. near
Mt. Athcs, and there other localities that
promise valuable deposits OF ore, as at Doom's
station on the Shenandoah Valley road, at Van
Bufen Furnace, and at several points in Graf
county.
In this reorganization we only include those
ores that are classed as mangan ese ores, that
is. showing as u minimum Al Is per cent of me
talllc manganese; Considerable ore with q less
content OF metallic manganese than these
which is classified by Mr.. Weeks III his Report
on Manganese to the United States Geological
Survey, as manganiferous iron ore is mined in
Virginia. notably at the Shenandoah Iron Com,
pany,s mines, and the Houston mines. both in
the Valley OF Virginia.
outside of Virginia, Georgia and Arkansas
but little manganese is produced in the United
States, though rich and extensive deposits are
reported in North Carolina, and several of the
Rocky Mountain states. and III California.
Outside of the United States the chief sources
of manganese are the Caucasus deposits in kus-
Laurium deposits of Greece, the Gillian depos-
its, and for high grade manganese, those Of
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The most
important OF these deposits are the Russian,
from which the production was 1850 tons in
reach $4,000 to 100000 tons In 1886. The produce
ton OF the German mines IN 1885 was II. 1876 me-
tric tons The Spanish deposits, which were at
one time of considerable Importance, are re-
ported as practically worked out. Some man
ganese has been found in Cuba and explora-
tlcns are in progress, while III New Zealand and
Othef countries 1t is reported that the is
found in quantitiea, but as yet these have as
Sumed no commercial Importance,
While the demand for manganese has increas.
ed, as is usually the case, new economies in its
use have been discovered. In making bleach
ing powder, for example, formerly the ore was
used but once. but methods have been Invented
by which the manganese is recovered from the
heretofore waste products with an insignificant
loss OF the manganese-possibly not to exceed
10 per cent. AS the result of this saving of man
ganese in the chemical industry as well as from
the increased production at various points,
notwithstanding the much larger demand,
there has been gradual fail in the price OF
manganese ore. some OF 3 years since the
price of ~ per cent. manganese for use in the
chemical works was 7Ds., or 1851 per ton, with
Is. Cd or 60 cents per unit additional The
ganese, with Is. Sd. or 81 cents per unit addi-
tional.
uncertain character than those of any other
mineral mined in large quantities. Its origin
In most cases is probably hematite ore beds, |
carrying large amounts OF manganese, from
which the manganese is Ieached, the solution |
depositihg the manganese ore III grains and
Jumps from the SIZE Oh a pin he ad or small.
Ter 10 that of masses many feet in diameter
These masses are usually found in pockets inn |
bedded in thick, tenacious yellow clay. 1t is |
this origin and method of depositing that |
makes the mining so uncertain. If the oxplor-
er strikes one of these pockets he is Fortunate |
but he may search all about it ana lust miss |
the spot where he would find the reward Of his |
labors. When 9 pocket is found its extent is |
uncertain. II the deposit is baSin-Shaped, as |
at Crimora, it may be struck at one edge and |
show but a small seam, (which will gradually |
deepen towards the centre OF tn g basin: where's |
as, II the deepest part Of the deposit is struck |
the expectations formed from its appearance |
Will be dlSSlnateu as The mining proceeds To- |
ward the Shallower parts.
The history of manganese mining in Virginia
from whence the largest amounts OF man eanese
have been taken, show prior to the discovery
of the Crimora mine the existence in yarious
parts of the state. chiefly through the central
portions and the valley, OF q number of snaaIi
pockets, which were soon exhausted, search in /
the vicinity falling to develop the presence Of
similar deposits. The recent exploraff2ns nj
Batesville indicate that the manganese cd Illfs
and Jumps are found strabifled ana ccnfinuous
tor some distance, that is, having what is cali
ed q t'vein formation" - -
There are also large masses of nannan csc ore
found in the country that are either TOO low in !,
for use in the Manufacture of ferro !,
spiegel or bleaching powders, or too high in |
phosphorus and silica for such uses Enormous
masses ofsuch ore are known to exist in Ar
kansas and other parts of the country. The |
Arkansas ores to Whi0h reference is made are
quite nigh IN manganese, but are un fortunate-
~, SO Tar as surface specimens show to high in
to be valuable for spiegeo or ferro
They are, also, ut the present |
lime, too far from railroad or river rams porta-
ION to permit OF thelr use, even if the contents /
u phosphorus was low enough. Possibly some
method 81 utilizing these may be discovered.
STATISTICS OF the production of manganese
nfouSnOub the world are very difficult 10 OBJ
am. From the hest information, however,
mai we have been able to secure, the following
$ the production for 1885: